Bust of a Warrior Wearing a Plumed Helmet, Looking Toward Spectator Over His Right Shoulder (recto); Sketch of a Leg (verso) 1605 - 1609

Camillo Procaccini made this red chalk drawing of a helmeted warrior in Italy sometime around 1600. The image recalls the visual codes of the Renaissance, when humanist ideals led artists to depict classical subjects, often taken from ancient Greece and Rome. The warrior’s gaze engages us, his potential viewers. But it also speaks to the culture of academies that developed at this time. Procaccini was one of many artists refining their skills through draftsmanship, and anatomical studies. He likely made this study in preparation for a painting or sculpture, where the warrior might take on a more definite symbolic meaning. Art historians can look to artist’s biographies and institutional records to better understand how the study of the human body and the classical past played a role in artistic training and production at this time.